The Case of the Disappearing Workfare Documents

Well yesterday’s revelation that the DWP seem to have been altering documents on their website to cover for Chris Grayling and Iain Duncan Smith’s lies seems to hold weight. Someone on the forum urban75 has pointed out that the document was indeed modified yesterday:

“If you download the current modified pdf file from the DWP website and look at Document Properties you see that the pdf file was:

Created: 2012-02-24 15:07:49

Modified: 2012-02-24 15:08:39″

It even appears the Ministry of Truth have been busier than first suspected, with yet more information on compulsory workfare vanishing from the DWP’s website.

This blog reveals that the prospectus for the Work Programme also seems to have gone walkabout. If you go to where the prospectus was originally located you are informed: “The page you are looking for is no longer available on the DWP site.” You can then follow a link to the archive (PDF) which contains the prospectus. Whilst it is not unusual for documents to be archived, there are plenty of other documents about the Work Programme still available on the DWP’s website, yet any mention of the mandatory nature of the scheme appears to have been removed. That includes the table below from the prospectus which clearly shows that Iain Duncan Smith was lying when he claimed in the Mail that “our work programme is entirely voluntary”.

You don’t even need to go internet sleuthing to expose their lies now that broken toy retailers Poundland have said they have ended:

“participation in the government’s mandatory work programme.”

Which contrasts sharply with Chris Grayling’s claim on the Today programme yesterday that “There is no circumstance in which we would mandate any individual to take part in work activity for a big company, that doesn’t happen.”

“Poundland have been taking part in two schemes, the work programme and the work experience scheme,”

“Poundland has suspended its participation in the work programme, because of concerns about the compulsory nature of the programme but they are continuing with the work experience, which is voluntary.”

Most claimants could have warned Grayling that you can’t really trust anything you get from a pound shop.

This statement is important because it refers to the Work Programme, not the Mandatory Work Activity scheme, or the much discussed Work Experience scheme for young people. Work Programme can see claimants forced to work for private companies for up to six months without pay, something that DWP ministers have pretended isn’t happening time and time again.

Iain Duncan Smith and his minion Grayling have repeatedly told bare faced lies over the last couple of weeks as the workfare story has continued unabated. That they remain in post tells us everything we need to know about this shameful government. Next time Lansley or Cameron claim they are not privatising the NHS, remember this – they lie through their fucking teeth and there is no reason to ever believe a word this government tells us again.

40 responses to “The Case of the Disappearing Workfare Documents”

Because I am in the support Group ESA at the moment I tend to spend a lot of time and research on WRAG etc, however I have recently joined the fight against the work program by ringing local businesses and charities explaining how disgusted we all are at this blatant use of free labour for profit and if the company/charity does not cease using claimants in this manner we will organise publicity so the public are made aware of the practise and to cease trading with them at the very least. We have had some successes however it appears that most businesses have now indicated they will use voluntary only claimants so now we have the challenge of explaining to them that there is no such thing.

How can they state voluntary and then sanction or mandate on the scheme if a claimant does not agree?

Also in one DWP document it states the scheme has to be voluntary or it contravenes the EHR, then on another thread on this same site it states in another document found that it has to be mandatory so it does not conflict with the minimum wage laws.

(apologies I intended to post the link where the DWP outlined the scheme had to be voluntary for claimants or be against the EHR but I cannot find it as I have so many, when I do come across it I will come back and post it)

So which is it then as clearly the program is against the EHR because it can be proved it is not voluntary because of the threat of sanctions and the minimum wage laws by their own admission.

I just hope Riley’s legal case against the government manages to prove this beyond doubt and policy is changed to stop such slavery practice by this government.

You’re ridiculous and so is your blog. Why should people live on tax payers money for nothing, young people in this country need to learn a work ethic and gain experience to present on their CV, not only do I encourage these schemes, but I would enforce it to people on benefits after a certain time period. I’ve had friends already in permanent work directly thanks to these schemes, I’ve also had friends in the past do these things for FREE to prove themselves valuable to employers in the future. This is another prime example of the lazy, tantrumatic left expecting free hand-outs for nothing. It doesn’t work like that. Grow up!

2) On a CV most employers want to see at least 6 months in a position not 1 or 2 8 week stints of ‘work experience’ in wildly differing things as these schemes unsually provide. Contrary to looking good on CV it often raises questions by employers such as ‘Why arent you sticking at getting experience in one job’ and ‘why didnt you get taken on permamently’ etc etc. Additionally for young graduates the employer will often look at it say ‘Why havent you been more focussed getting a job in your trained discipline’ etc etc.

3) Im sure you have friends who ‘worked fo free to prove themselves valuable to employers in future’. They were no doubt in the very fortunate position where their parents can/did subsidise them to do this and they did it voluntary. Additionally the type of free work concerned also had proper training involved in it and was of a long enough duration to be valuable on a CV. In other words in very marked contrast to the ‘Work experience’ scheme been discussed.

4) People are been put on similar Compulsory ‘Work experience’ that are 50+ have worked for DECADES and thus paided DECADES worth of income tax and NI contributions. Thus ANY benefit they get has been paided for many times over in a lot of cases and dont need any so called ‘Work Experience’ anyway.

I could make some very frank responses to your name calling etc here but I wont as I dont need to. Your ill informed comments about a subject you clearly know nothing about says it all to any one reading it.

Your the fucking idiot – You obviously spend your days watching BBC and SKY NEWS and believe in FATHER CHRISTMAS. Open your stupid fucking eyes and see whats happening the the real world and not your ROSE TINTED FANTASY LAND.

I believe in fairness and if I was convinced workfare gor people into permanent jobs I would support it but that’s not the case Lol wait till your kids have to do it and see where you stand, or maybe you have shares in A4e lol

Those are dates it was created etc via PDFMaker from a source Word document. I downloaded my copy in early hours this morning.
PDF files are very difficult to hack etc hence their popularity for supplying documents like this.

Yes sorry I meant 2012 not 2011 above of course hehehe. The Created and Modified Date and time is due to how PDFMaker works . Creates a blank pdf file then parses Word Document to convert to PDF progressively and writes out to file in I believe in stages. So in this case you have around a 50 second difference between created and modified date/time stamp

The software used to create and edit the files is Acrobat PDFMaker 8.0 for Word.

Regarding the change from mandatory to voluntary. If Grayling insists that work was always voluntary then according to the document minimum wage regulations apply. If as some suggest only the first week was voluntary, then surely minimum wage regulations apply to that week. If it was mandatory and it has now changed, who authorised the change, when and why? Have the work programme providers been notified that it is no longer mandatory?

However much of a smokescreen he may put up, I think he’s nailed on this one. I suspect he’s been tinkering with the document because the courts are about to rule against his slave labour scheme. Could someone let the lawyers know – if they are arguing from current documents then they are not the instructions which applied at the time.

[Aside: If you look up ‘mandation’ in google you will find it is a ‘word’ invented by Sarah Palin. Whoever thought up the title for chapter 3 was obviously on the same intellectual wavelength].

Should reply to Torygraph saying its all a Trot plot
Some facts:
Its not all young people.
Many people do have skills and volunteering experience and do not need to add shelf stacking, free driving and grunt work to their CV in an endless cycle of enforced volunteering with the promise of full time work which does not materialise and does not exist.
This is in alignment with IMF / EU policy of a mobile workforce including exploiting ‘illegals’ to drive down wages and job security. See coke in Italy (building on their murderess successes in Colombia) They may allow you in to do their dirty work ( in all senses of the word)
The workfare programme bullies and cheats and provides fake traning not fit for purpose- A4e is tip of iceberg. This is a continuation of the programme set up under the Tories when Manpower sevices did the same. I know I went on these schemes then. They had fake construction, fake electronics and fake mechanics training in conjuction with sub -providers. They only benefitted the providers.
I have had benefits stopped whilst volunteering including producing CVs for a grant run centre involved in some dodgy practices I found ( labour politcos on grant money ). City & Islington college ( to name just one ) also produced fraudalent paperwork re claiming people had no skills when they had skills so that they could get money in teaching basic skills. They have a dodgy chancellor who was involved with the council and Deloitte the industry axeman ( see IMF mobile workforce with no rights,lowest wages and mobile factories )
Corruption is as rife here as it is in the often quoted example of Lagos!
The rich, their political lackeys and the chattering classes allow this with dodgy civil servants and PFI /PPP schemes.
Haven’t even got on to endemic council corruption
Its CLASS WAR against the poor as it always has been.
I could go on with many examples of fraud, corruption, and explotation.
As FOR THE baby BOOMERS WHO READ THE dAILY mAIL AND TELEGRAPH – THEY HAD IT ALL ( FULL EMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL MOBILITY,CHEAP RENT, MORE FREEDOM, AND u VOTED FOR this!!! you cunts – YOU SOLD US OUT NOT JUST TODAYS YOOF.LOOK UP hubris . Also remeber those bastards labour run may of our councils.
Also remeberr that CORPORATIONS really run the show and politicians just fill their pockets and bleat on…
Welcome to Facism ( see Mussoloni for details )

The government workfare schemes of forced labour for benefits (pushed by Iain Duncan Smith and Chris Grayling) are starting to collapse under the pressure of protest and recent bad publicity.

On Saturday 3rd March there will be a national day of action against workfare, with protests in 20 towns in the UK. But we have the opportunity to show our opposition locally when IDS visits Haringey on Friday morning. He will be spinning the government nightmare at a lecture ”Building for the Future” at the Dream Centre in Tottenham Town Hall (9.30 am to 12 noon).

Join the 9am picket/protest outside Tottenham Town Hall (5 minutes walk up the High Road from Seven Sister’s tube station) – called by Boycott Workfare

Errm, I’m part of the baby boomer generation but believe me, we didn’t ALL have it good. It’s not a case of our generation against the upcoming one – it’s a case of those at the top ‘exploiting’ those at the bottom whether or not they’re aware of it – that’s how class war and capitalism works. We need unity and whether we like it or not, we need the chattering classes on board, made aware of what’s happening. There are many people aware of what’s happening who could influence public opinion if they wanted to but shamefully, too many of them are protecting their own position lest they and theirs be next.

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